Why America’s fired up about hemp

Hemp: It’s not just for health food smoothies and hippie clothing. The unintended victim of the United States’ prohibition on cannabis — it got swept up in theMarijuana Tax Act of 1937 and is now blacklisted by the DEA under the Controlled Substances Act — the plant is beginning to be seen by many as the solution to any number of the country’s problems, with implications ranging from energy to agriculture. Newly liberated (to an extent) by the recently passed Farm Bill, it could be the country’s next billion-dollar industry, journalist Doug Fine told Salon.

3. The very reason they tied hemp to "marijuana" and created the Reefer Madness hysteria.

4. Not just the lumber interests but the garment industry as well wanted hemp banned

Clothing made from hemp is extremely durable. It can last for decades. I have seen pictures of nightgowns and shirts that were 100 years old. They were simply designed but still beautiful and in impeccable condition.